Korean Black Pine in training.

Adair M said:
Working with advanced trees is stimulating, too. I can assure you that applying wire like I have on this tree requires mental concentration, physical dexterity, problem solving, patience and endurance.
Click to expand...
At first, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and all the bonsainuters!
Thanks for beautiful pictures.
Are you in the pictures? It looks like you needed to spend whole day to finish working on this tree, didn't you? I can see you had to use a lot of physical and mental strength to work on it. To apply the copper wire like this, it is not as much easy as aluminum wire (I can see the way your left shoulder act!) :)
Yes, I do have quite a bit of large bonsai and I know how hard to work on them comparing to the smaller or primitive prebonsai. To me, working on the large, advanced trees is kind of similar to performing a big surgery such as Whipple procedure (pancreatoduodenectomy - remove the pancreas and duodenum for pancreatic cancer) and training of the pine seedlings is kind of similar to performing a minor surgery such as appendectomy. It not only takes about 4 - 8 hours to finish Whipple procedure but also with a lot of stress on the surgical team. It usually takes about 25 minutes to finish appendectomy with much less stress. After 4 hours of surgery, a surgeon can only help one person with Whipple but about 8 patients with appendicitis with much less stress. I would choose the appendectomy over the Whipple. Remember: the more stress we get, the much shorter the telomeres would be, the much shorter life we get! :)
Bonhe
 
It was nearly two full days to pull needles, trim decandled stems, thin excess buds, prune, wire and style. Yes, that's me wiring the apex. I work from the bottom up. So I was nearing the end. Since the trunk is vertical, I had to lean over the tree to get at the apex, being careful not to press against the lower limbs with my legs or body.

When I wire, I prefer to have the branch I'm wiring at chest level. And I prefer to be able to reach under the branch with my palms up to minimize breaking needles. To facilitate this, I can usually adjust the height of the table and/or the chair to make it as comfortable as possible. Least amount of stress!

But when I got to the apex, even with the table on the lowest setting, I had to stand and lean over. High stress!

But, once it was done, I could sit back and enjoy the image I'd created!
 
Hi Adair M,
Yes, I can see you had a lot of stress with this tree! :)
When I worked on the tall tree, I placed it on the lift like this one http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...devicetype=c&gclid=COCLl9CLwtACFUeCfgod2REP9g. So I don't need to bend raising up my arms to much while working on the apex. The good thing of the lift is that you can bring the tree up and down depending on which area of the tree you are working on. Very comfortable.
Bonhe
 
bonhe said:
Hi Adair M,
Yes, I can see you had a lot of stress with this tree! :)
When I worked on the tall tree, I placed it on the lift like this one http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631990_200631990?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Material Handling > Lift Tables&utm_campaign=Roughneck&utm_content=44497&cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=google_PLA&utm_campaign=&mkwid=s5jmgSMAp&pcrid=3912966 0716&devicetype=c&gclid=COCLl9CLwtACFUeCfgod2REP9g. So I don't need to bend raising up my arms to much while working on the apex. The good thing of the lift is that you can bring the tree up and down depending on which area of the tree you are working on. Very comfortable.
Bonhe
Click to expand...
Yep. I'm familiar with those. Put larger wheels on them to make them more maneuverable in the garden.

I work this tree on one:

IMG_3901.JPG
 
Very nice olive Adair M. Thanks for sharing.
Bonhe
 
The gusty wind died down this morning, so I transplanted 5 KBP. I wish I could wait longer but their outside colanders were severely damaged by weather.
One of them.
1.png

After removing it from the inside colander.
3.png 4.png

The soil is included pumice/turface/ mini pine barks/grounded fir (forest humus)/ charcoal with ratio 5/5/3/2/0.5.

Then I sprinkled humic granule into the soil mix.
11.png 12.png

All of them were placed into the orchid clay containers
Bonhe
 
Finished products.
9.png 7.png 8.png 5.png 6.png

They are placed into the "recovery room" . Because we need to remove a lot of roots with double colander method, the post-procedure care is very important. I can not emphasize enough!

"Recovery room"
10.png

Bonhe
 
This KBP's sacrificed branch was needed to be removed this morning.
1.png

Done!
2.png

Trunk line.
3.png

This tree has been styled as root on the long petrified wood. It amazes me that in spite of being in 1 gallon pot since 2009, it did not show any root coming out from the drainage holes. The water is still drained fast through the soil. It means there is no root bound at all. The tree has grown healthily. I have never removed the tree out of the pot to see what is going on down there. I am sure that it will give me full surprise during the time of transplanting to the bonsai pot.
I love its bark!!!!
4.png

Bird's eye view
8.png

After almost 30 minutes, the cutting surface is still dry! It is a reason to remove the big branch in the winter time!
11.png

Bonhe
 
bonhe said:
This KBP's sacrificed branch was needed to be removed this morning.
View attachment 129545

Done!
View attachment 129546

Trunk line.
View attachment 129548

This tree has been styled as root on the long petrified wood. It amazes me that in spite of being in 1 gallon pot since 2009, it did not show any root coming out from the drainage holes. The water is still drained fast through the soil. It means there is no root bound at all. The tree has grown healthily. I have never removed the tree out of the pot to see what is going on down there. I am sure that it will give me full surprise during the time of transplanting to the bonsai pot.
I love its bark!!!!
View attachment 129547

Bird's eye view
View attachment 129549

After almost 30 minutes, the cutting surface is still dry! It is a reason to remove the big branch in the winter time!
View attachment 129550

Bonhe
Click to expand...
Great post, as usual! I love following your projects. When you removed the sacrifice branch, did you cut it flush like that with a saw? I am due to remove a sacrifice on a kotobuki this winter. Thanks for sharing your work!
 
Wilson said:
Great post, as usual! I love following your projects. When you removed the sacrifice branch, did you cut it flush like that with a saw? I am due to remove a sacrifice on a kotobuki this winter. Thanks for sharing your work!
Click to expand...
Thanks Wilson.
With the big branch, depending on the season, I do it differently.
1. In winter, I cut it flush.
2. In growing season, I let it be with a short stump for 1 year, then cut it flush.
Bonhe
 
Thank you for sharing. That was very informative, inspirational and fun to read. Great pics too.
 
This KBP was transplanted on 12/4/16. Even though it shows an active status, but I still keep it in the filtered light area with good humid at this time. The reason is that it has only one small feeding root during transplant. All other roots were damaged when I tried to separate the tree from the colander! I will move it to direct sunlight area in the end of winter.
1.png 2.png 3.png
Bonhe
 
So, did you find that roots grew through the first colander and into the second one? How long were they "double colandered"? And, it looks like you triple colandered?

So, when removing the tree from the colanders, did you find the roots had swollen up on both sides of the smallest colander?

Did you have to just cut the roots all around the inside of the first colander to separate the tree from it?

Inquiring minds want to know!
 
Adair M, So, did you find that roots grew through the first colander and into the second one?
Yes.

How long were they "double colandered"?
7 years.

And, it looks like you triple colandered?
Roots escaped at the bottom of the 2nd colander

So, when removing the tree from the colanders, did you find the roots had swollen up on both sides of the smallest colander?
Yes. The roots were bigger than the tiny holes of the colander (the holes acted alike tourniquet). At

Did you have to just cut the roots all around the inside of the first colander to separate the tree from it?
Even though after I cut the roots all around the outside of the 1st colander, I could not separate the tree from the 1st colander wall! I had to cut the root from inside too!

This was the 1st time I got a problem. All of other trees were easy to be separated after cutting the roots around the outside of the 1st colanders.
Bonhe
 
bonhe said:
Adair M, So, did you find that roots grew through the first colander and into the second one?
Yes.

How long were they "double colandered"?
7 years.

And, it looks like you triple colandered?
Roots escaped at the bottom of the 2nd colander

So, when removing the tree from the colanders, did you find the roots had swollen up on both sides of the smallest colander?
Yes. The roots were bigger than the tiny holes of the colander (the holes acted alike tourniquet). At

Did you have to just cut the roots all around the inside of the first colander to separate the tree from it?
Even though after I cut the roots all around the outside of the 1st colander, I could not separate the tree from the 1st colander wall! I had to cut the root from inside too!

This was the 1st time I got a problem. All of other trees were easy to be separated after cutting the roots around the outside of the 1st colanders.
Bonhe
Click to expand...
Thanks for answering my questions.

I have never understood the point of double colanders. Seems to me that if you need a bigger pot, just take it out of the smaller colander, and put it in a bigger one.

To me, the whole point of using a colander is the "air pruning" effect. When the roots hit the colander, they don't circle. They backbud closer to the trunk instead. By placing a colander inside another, they won't backbud until they reach he edge of the second colander, and meanwhile they thicken and bulge where they penetrate the first colander, and you have a mess!
 
Adair M said:
I have never understood the point of double colanders. Seems to me that if you need a bigger pot, just take it out of the smaller colander, and put it in a bigger one.

To me, the whole point of using a colander is the "air pruning" effect. When the roots hit the colander, they don't circle. They backbud closer to the trunk instead. By placing a colander inside another, they won't backbud until they reach he edge of the second colander, and meanwhile they thicken and bulge where they penetrate the first colander, and you have a mess!
Click to expand...
Just for the record, I agree 100% on this one, Adair! :eek:
 
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